What Is Telecare?

Telecare is a flexible telephone-based alarm system that allows people to live independently at home for as long as possible.

For many people, their telecare service consists of a base alarm unit and a pendant worn around the neck, which can be pressed from anywhere in the home for instant access to emergency help, when needed.

For more complex situations (e.g. patient suffering from dementia or limited mobility, or prone to falls, or particularly security conscious), the base unit works like a ‘hub’ to which a whole host of sensors and alarms can be linked.

The diagram above you can see on this page demonstrates some of the kinds of sensors can be connected around the home.

More details about all these pieces of equipment, including some tailored packages, can be found in our ‘Telecare Packages’ section.

Does Telecare Work?

‘Telecare’ is the term for delivering remote care of elderly and physically less able people, providing the care and reassurance that allows them to remain living in their own homes. Telecare often comes in the form of a package, centred around a base unit alarm, which can provide support for people who are vulnerable, or who live with illnesses such as dementia, or those at risk of falling.

Most telecare mitigates harm by reacting to untoward events and raising a help response quickly. Perhaps most importantly, telecare provides peace of mind to the user and their loved ones.

'Telecare Delivers Life-Changing Results: Fact'

VNC Lifeline has been spreading the message for almost two decades now that telecare works. We know it works; not least because we see first hand how it saves people’s lives, but there is also academic and clinical data to underpin this conviction.

The results of the largest randomised controlled trial of telecare and telehealth in the world (the Whole System Demonstrator, or WSD*) indicate that telecare can deliver:

A 15% reduction in A&E visits

A 20% reduction in emergency admissions

A 14% reduction in elective admissions

A 14% reduction in bed days

An 8% reduction in tariff costs

A 45% reduction in mortality rates

Put simply; telecare saves lives. There are over 1.6m households across the UK who already receive a telecare and/or telehealth service. Telecare gives individuals the choice, security and more control over their long term health condition, using technology-assisted services, tailored to their individual needs.

*The findings from the WSD trial can be found 0n the Department of Health's website here